How you compare
Barack Obama shares a 81% similarity with your beliefs on Environment and Energy
I strongly support the idea that human pollution is a significant cause of global warming
"Global warming is real, is happening now and is the result of human activities. The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years. Glaciers are melting faster; the polar ice caps are shrinking; trees are blooming earlier; oceans are becoming more acidic, threatening marine life; people are dying in heat waves; species are migrating, and eventually many will become extinct. Scientists predict that absent major emission reductions, climate change will worsen famine and drought in some of the poorest places in the world and wreak havoc across the globe. In the U.S., sea-level rise threatens to cause massive economic and ecological damage to our populated coastal areas."
"We know our oil dependency is jeopardizing our planet as well. That the fossil fuels we burn are setting off a chain of dangerous weather patterns that could condemn future generations to global catastrophe."
Voted YES on factoring global warming into federal project planning
Kerry Amendment; Bill S.Amdt.1094 to H.R.1495 ; vote number 2007-166 on May 15, 2007
"We have a government that says climate change is a hoax."
I support international treaties to cut greenhouse gas emissions like the Kyoto Protocol
"This is the administration that commissioned government experts and scientists to do a study on global warming, only to omit the part from the final report that said it was caused by humans. This is the administration that didn’t try to improve the Kyoto Treaty by trying to include oil guzzlers like China and India, but walked away from the entire global effort to stem climate change."
Obama will build on our domestic commitments by creating a negotiating process that involves a smaller number of countries than the nearly 200 countries in the current Kyoto system. Obama will create a Global Energy Forum - based on the G8+5, which included all G-8 members plus Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa - of the world's largest emitters to focus exclusively on global energy and environmental issues.
I strongly support investment in alternative forms of energy
Obama's comprehensive plan to combat global warming will: Invest $150 billion over the next ten years to develop and deploy climate friendly energy supplies, protect our existing manufacturing base and create millions of new jobs.
Obama wanted to spend the proceeds of the pollution auction - perhaps as much as $50 billion - on alternative energy research and development.
Time Magazine, November 19, 2007
"This requires concrete steps to move us toward energy independence including requiring that 20% of the nation's power supply portfolio come from renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy by 2020, and that a percentage of our nation's fuel supply is provided by renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel."
Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.org, "On the Issues" Sep 28, 2004
He sponsored the Biodiesel Fuel Act to require diesel fuel sold in Illinois to contain at least two percent biodiesel fuel by volume.
Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.org, "On the Issues" Sep 28, 2004
I am neutral on investment in drilling for oil domestically
Barack Obama said Friday that presidential rival John McCain's proposal to allow offshore drilling "makes absolutely no sense at all" as he headed to Florida to put the Republican on the spot over the issue. Obama said opening up the U.S. coastline to oil exploration would not give Americans any appreciable savings until 2030.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Friday he would back limited offshore drilling as part of a broader energy package that attempted to bring down gas prices and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Obama dropped his blanket opposition to any expansion of offshore drilling and signaled support for a bipartisan compromise in Congress aimed at breaking a deadlock on energy that includes limited drilling.
"We could save as much, in terms of our fuel, if we increased our fuel efficiency standards, as much as we would from getting Alaska drilling going immediately. And that's been the Bush strategy increasing production for oil and gas companies, subsidizing them to the tune of 20 billion dollars, as opposed to thinking about how, not only, we can develop alternative fuels."
IL Senate Debate Oct 26, 2004
Voted YES on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies
Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation (CLEAN); Bill H.R.6 ; vote number 2007-226 on Jun 21, 2007
Voted YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska's ANWR
Bar Oil and Gas Leasing amendment; Bill S Amdt 2358 to S 1932 ; vote number 2005-288 on Nov 3, 2005
Voted YES on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge anti-drilling Amendment; Bill S AMDT 168 to S.Con.Res. 18 ; vote number 2005-52 on Mar 16, 2005